Since one month I’m now back to work and to my African life again. However, it's even crazier that I’m back in Copenhagen in only 116 days!!! It’s kind of
scary how fast time is running. I don’t feel like being able to catch up with
it...there are still so many things I want to do and experience down here. But
of course I also look forward to going home :) Whatever, I’m still in
Livingstone, so let me tell you, what I’ve been doing and experiencing during
the last days.
Last Thursday it was time for the first sport captains meeting in the
new year. I was quite excited and was really looking forward to it :) For
improving the motivation and energy of the sport captains, we (Doreen and I)
had undertaken some changes. Late coming is for instance a BIG problem. But how can
you deal with such an issue in a cultural setting, where it kind of is normal to be late?
Well, my ladies love to dance, so I thought, why not starting the meeting with
a dance/aerobic class? Those girls, who were on time, loved it!!! And yeah, those
who were late really regretted being late :D
Saturday the 2nd of February, Kwenuha was having an Internal Football
Tournament. The reason for this tournament was mainly that my mum had brought some
balls and jerseys, when she was visiting me. Thanks to her and ‘Sportigan Farum’ in Denmark, I
had three footballs and two sets of jerseys to distribute to some sport clubs
within Kwenuha. But how to do this in a fair way, so you don’t get any
complains? I just organize a tournament, I thought! However, it’s not as easy as it may sounds like.
My biggest concern was that no teams would show up. Since the tournament wasn’t
on the budget, we weren’t able to provide food and drinks and since food is one
of the reasons, why some teams show up for our sport days, I was bit concerned about the tournament Saturday morning. Furthermore, the fact that the tournament was
planned with very short notice (during the meeting Thursday the 31st
), didn’t make me more calm :D
However, after the normal delays, eight teams
had shown up and we had an amazing tournament :) I was so relieved and happy that the
tournament turned out to be a success. Again I’ve learned to be more flexible
and that things somehow always can get fixed in the last minute down here :D (even
though you maybe have to wait an hour to get the balls for the
tournament pumped…T.I.A :D).
The sport captains were very motivated and even on
time (maybe the dancing Thursday already have had it's impact), the kids had a lot of fun
and we delivered a good product for the two representatives from NIF (Norwegian
Sport Federation).
The girls playing
The boys playing
The boys playing
Terese, Nyarai, Steven (all working for Response Network) and Diane (from NIF) watching the kids playing
The awards
The winner teams and the sport captains
The sport captains and me
After the tournament, it was time for me to relax :) And how is the best
way to do it? Yep, with a braai and friends at rapid nr. 7! Just have a look at
the pictures:
Nice view
People having fun
Perrin and Micheal
Nice food
At Café Zambezi after the braai
The first week in February turned out to be quite busy for me. It
started with some good hours at the immigration office (my work permit is still
not ready :D), while the rest of the week was busy with meetings and workshops
with NIF, and with finishing my exam paper. Tuesday e.g. NIF was doing an 10 hours workshop with Kwenuha, where we did an organizational review.
Sport captains answering questions
All of us (staff, community volunteers and sport captains) discussing the questions together with NIF
At the end of the day
Besides work and exam
writing, I also made sure to have time for dancing salsa, going to the gym and
having a good time with friends :) Hence, Saturday was occupied with finishing
the exam paper.
Terese and me working
Well, somehow I ended up at The Royal Livingstone Hotel having
sunset drinks :D It's kind of difficult to say no to such a beautiful view!
The red clouds are the spray from the falls
Happy Vivi :)
Luckily, the paper was almost done, when Terese called me Saturday evening for asking me, if I wanted to
join her, Anita and Nyarai going to Botswana the following morning at 6
o’clock. Well, I quickly finished the paper and got ready for the trip, which I by the way, didn’t know anything about :D
Sunday early morning I really was excited about going to Botswana, even though my head
was full of questions :D (people who know me know that I kind of like to plan
things and sometimes can have some difficulties with being too spontaneous :D However,
I was looking forward to a new experience and challenge myself :)).
Terese, Nyarai, Anita and me ready to go to Botswana
Where were we going? Francistown
in Botswana.
Why were we going? To go shopping, apparently
clothes and groceries etc. are cheaper in Botswana.
How were we getting there? By a combination of taxis, busses and hitchhiking.
Waiting for a car to have space for the four of us.We just had to wait an hour, until a car finally came :)
Yeahhh, finally sitting in a car. However, what we didn't know at that time was that we had to wait 2 1/2 hours for the bus to get full and being ready to leave :D
Who did I go with? Terese, Nyarai (two of my YSEP
(Youth Sport Exchange Program) volunteer group) and our Zambian friend Anita. And
it was mainly because of Anita and her business we went.
What I didn’t know before was that a lot of Zambians travel to
Francistown for buying clothes, groceries etc. for their businesses at home in
Zambia. Some of the people we met were even travelling several days for
being in Francistown for going shopping one day and then travelling back
several days again. It kind of reminded me a bit at home, where a lot of
Scandinavians travel to the border shops in Germany for going shopping.
However, most of them mainly buy other things than clothes :D (e.g. beer)
Anita, Nyarai and Terese
Where were we sleeping? In a lodge for women.
Our beds and Terese
When are we going to be back in Livingstone? Tuesday morning.
How is the
program? Sunday: travelling to Francistown. We started at 6 hours in
Livingstone and reached our destination at 18 hours. Monday: shopping. We got
up at 5:30 – bought bus tickets and were ready for shopping at 7:30 (the shops
opened at 8 hours). The following 6 hours we went from shop to shop. Since I
wasn’t interested in buying anything (I already know that I’m going to struggle
with packing my bags, when I’m going home :D), I spent my day with sitting and
waiting, while experiencing the culture differences. It was really interesting
to observe the culture differences. In addition to that it was quite attention
grabbing to see that Chinese people owned EVERY single shop!
Nyarai and me waiting for the others
Nyarai with my best purchase - the "chair"
Whatever, after
shopping we had some lunch and spent more hours with sitting and waiting for
the night bus to leave. Yep, we spent 5 hours sitting at a parking place next to a
filling station waiting for the bus :D At 22 hours the bus finally was ready to leave and we were on our way back to Zambia. After a night with not enough sleep, we arrived the border at 6 hours and were back in Livingstone at 8:00. At 10 hours I was back in the office ;)
Happy girls shopping
A photo copy shop
The traditional dress for women in Botswana (the ladies in white)
The girls unpacking their purchases (so they don't get any troubles at the border)
Me trying on the wigs Anita bought
Terese and me having dinner
Tired girls back in Livingstone
All in all it was a very interesting trip to Botswana, which I think I can call
a proper culture experience :) However, I'm not sure if I need to do it once a month, like some Zambian women do :D
What is on the program for this week?
At work, I think the most exciting thing is going to be, to have the interviews
with those girls, who have applied for going on the YSEP program (the program I'm on right now) and besides this, I think I’m going to spend my time with dancing salsa,
going to the gym and with relaxing. Sounds good I guess :)
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